Door fastening devices



March 1965 K- P. PUGH 3,171,680

DOOR FASTENING DEVICES Filed June 22, 1962 United States Patent 3,171,680 DOOR FASTENING DEVICES Kenneth Peter Pugh, Shiriey, England, assignor to Wilmet- Breeden Limited, Birmingham, England Filed June 22, 1962, Ser. No. 204,366

Claims priority, application Great Britain, June 24, 1961,

4 Claims. (Cl. 292-34112) This invention relates to door fastening devices in which a latch member is arranged for latching engagement with a striker or keeper, hereinafter termed a striker, and guide means associated with the latch member engage the striker to guide relative movement of the latter and the latch member into latching engagement.

In use doors tend to drop on their hinges, which is particularly the case with vehicle doors, and when this happens the guide means engage the striker with a considerable initial impact which lifts the door during door closure. When the striker is manufactured from a metallic material which is desirable for considerations of cost and ease of manufacture the impact between the guide means and the striker produces an undesirable degree of noise, and the object of the invention is to provide for a door fastening a striker with which such impact noise is considerably reduced.

According to the invention a door fastening device has a striker adapted for latching engagement with a latch member of the device and for engagement by guide means during door closure to guide the striker and latch member into engagement, the striker being mainly of metallic material and having a leading portion which in use is initially engaged by the guide means should the door have dropped and is formed from a resilient synthetic plastic material such as nylon.

As the initial impact of the guide means is mainly produced if the door has dropped it is normally sufiicient to provide adequate noise deadening, if only the aforesaid portion is formed from the synthetic plastic material. However, doors are commonly set high on assembly to allow for subsequent dropping, and a further leading portion of the striker which is initially engaged by the guide means should the door be high may if desired also be formed from suitable synthetic material.

Nylon is a particularly suitable material for use in the application of the invention in view of its high impact strength, sound deadening properties, low friction characteristics and correspondingly low rate of wear. The invention is of particular application where the main body of the striker is manufactured by die casting, for example from a zinc-base alloy.

The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, a vehicle door fastening device in accordance with the invention, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a face view of the main body of the device,

FIGURE 2 is a face View of a striker of the device having a main structure which is manufactured by die casting from a zinc-base alloy,

FIGURE 3 is a similar view of a backplate or base of the striker,

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view on the line IVIV in FIGURE 3,

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the striker backplate,

FIGURE 6 is a face view of a nylon insert of the striker,

FIGURE 7 is a side view of the insert, and

FIGURE 8 is a sectional View on the line VIII-VIII in FIGURE 2.

The main body of the device has a backplate 1 adapted for fixing to the corresponding door pillar and on which is rotatably mounted a latch member 2 in the form of a rotary cam. Guide means of the device comprise a guide plate 3 attached to the backplate 1 and of pressed form with upper and lower guide flanges 4 and 5 respectively arranged above and below the cam 2 to form between them a guide channel within which the striker 6 is received and guided during door closure. The guide flanges 4 and 5 are shaped with curved leading ends 40 and 5a to provide a flared entrance to the guide channel which acts to align the striker 6 and cam 2 should the door initially be high or low.

The striker 6 has a body structure formed in two parts. The larger of these parts comprises the die-cast backplate '7 adapted for mounting in the appropriate position on the corresponding body pillar of the vehicle with an integral lower guide member 8 which forms a housing for a springloaded wedge 9 which projects from the lower face of the guide member 8; the smaller sintered iron or latch part 10 is riveted to the backplate 7 and is formed for latching engagement with the cam 2.

An upper guide member 12, which is largely formed by the sintered part it), is arranged to engage the upper guide flange 4 of the guide means and has a leading portion or nose provided by a nylon insert 13 riveted in position on the backplate 7 with the sintered part 10. Bot the nylon insert 13 and the leading end of the sintered iron section it) of the upper guide member 12 are stepped so that they fit together in the manner of a cross-halving joint, with the stepped plate-like port-ion 13a of the insert 13 between that section Ill and the backplate 7 and the full thickness portion 13b of the nylon insert extending completely across the upper guide member 12 laterally of the latter to provide a leading rounded nose surface. This surface engages the upper guide flange to lift the door should the latter have dropped. Should the door have dropped, the initial impact of the guide flange 4 on the striker 6, which acts to lift the door, is withstood by the nylon insert 13 so that the impact is taken in a resilient manner and with the production of relatively little noise as compared with the noise which would be produced if the upper guide member 12 were made completely from the sintered iron.

The die-cast backplate 7 has a raised upper edge portion 7a on which the iron part 10 seats, the portion 7a having a non-circular recess 14 surrounding a fixing hole 15 for a fixing bolt 16. The part 10 has a mating projection 17 which engages in the recess 14 for location purposes. To assist location of the insert 13 the portion 7a is also stepped at the leading end to provide a shoulder 18 engaged by the trailing edge 19 of the insert 13, fixing of the part 10 and insert 13 being achieved by a rivet 20 through these members and the backplate 7.

The lower guide member 8 also has a rounded nose portion for engagement with the lower guide flange 5, but as in use guiding will not normally'act to lift the door the whole of the lower guide member 8 can be manufactured from the zinc-base alloy. On door closure the spring-loaded wedge 9 engages the lower guide flange 5 to provide a wedging reaction which wedges the striker 7 within the guide channel between the flanges 4 and 5 in the vertical direction to provide vertical restraint for the door and prevent rattle. The spring-loaded wedge is also conveniently manufactured from sintered iron, nylon or other suitable material.

Vehicle doors are commonly set high on assembly to allow for subsequent settling, so that initially impact occurs between the flange 5 and the guide member 8. As a refinement of the basic invention the latter member may also be provided with an insert, indicated in broken lines at 22 in FIGURE 2, of nylon or other suitable material. Impact with such an insert 22 lowers the initially high door in the same manner as the door is later lifted by means of the insert 13 of the invention.

I claim:

1. A door fastening device comprising a striker, a I

"member entering between said inserts with one of said "inserts initially engaging the guide means in the event the door is dropped and the other of said inserts initially engaging the guide means in the'event the door is high. 2. A door fastening according to claim 1, wherein the latch member is arranged for mounting on the door and said striker is arranged for mounting on the corresponding'doorframe, said one insert being the upper and said other insert the lower.

3. A door fastening device comprising a striker, a latch member for latching engagement with said striker, and guide means associated with said latch member to guide the latter in the vertical sense into correct engagement with said striker; said striker having a metallic backplate part, a fixed latch part of sintered iron construction mounted on said backplate part for latching engagement with said latch member, and a leading portion of a resilient synthetic plastic material which is initially engaged duringdoor closure in the event'the door is dropped and is in the 'form of an insert which fits between the latch part and the backplate part.

4. A door fastening device according to claim 3, wherein the synthetic insert is of stepped form with a stepped portion fitting between the latch part and the backplate part and a nose portion which extends substantially completely across the latch part laterally of the latter to provide a leading rounded nose surface for engagement by said guide means.

References Cited in the file ofthi's patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Martens et al. Mar. 22, '1960 3,002,778 Chanaryn et al. Oct. 3, 1961 

1. A DOOR FASTENING DEVICE COMPRISING A STRIKER, A LATCH MEMBER ADAPTED FOR LATCHING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE STRIKER, AND GUIDE MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH SAID LATCH MEMBER WHICH ACT TO GUIDE THE LATCH MEMBER IN THE VERTICAL SENSE INTO CORRECT LATCHING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID STRIKER, SAID STRIKER BEING FORMED MAINLY OF METALLIC MATERIAL WITH UPPER AND LOWER LEADING EDGE INSERTS OF A RESILIENT SYNTHETIC PLASTIC MATERIAL, DURING DOOR CLOSURE THE LATCH MEMBER ENTERING BETWEEN SAID INSERTS WITH ONE OF SAID INSERTS INITIALLY ENGAGING THE GUIDE MEANS IN THE EVENT THE DOOR IS DROPPED AND THE DOOR OF SAID INSERTS INITIALLY ENGAGING THE GUIDE MEANS IN THE EVENT THE DOOR IS HIGH. 